The Local Dish: Shannon's Ice Cream

Thats how the cone crumbles - with chocolate and cherry flavors to refresh your mouth on hut summer days at Shannon’s Ice Cream. Classic flavors and handcrafted blends are in the mix daily.

By Charles Childs/ CCCNews Foodie

Mmm, mmm, mmm.

Imagine this: It’s a warm breezy day and you walk into a quaint craftsman style house with warm wood floors and tasteful art adorning the walls to find a full ice cream shop with an ice cream case that is brimming with an array of tasty flavors like Dairy-Free Mango Sherbet, Birthday Cake, Udderly Chocolate and more. 

Shannon’s Ice Cream has made my sweetest dreams come to life. The smell of the homemade waffle cones alone practically grabs you by the shirt collar giving you no chance to resist the temptation of a warm crisp cone.

I enjoyed my towering ice cream cone near the front steps of the shop at a small café table in the shade of the nearby street tree while listening to children’s laughter as they order their ice cream inside. 

I ordered a double scoop ice cream cone. The homemade Cherry Cobbler and the Tillamook Ice Cream’s iconic Tillamook Mudslide graced me with their presence that evening. These two heaping scoops of ice cream were gently resting in a warm homemade waffle cone. In fact, as I was ordering the waffle cone it was being pressed in the iron, ensuring that every cone was still warm from the iron. 

Tillamook Mudslide is out of this world with rich chocolate flavor. The dark chocolate swirls have a perfect hint of salt to amplify the flavor of the chocolate that knocks your taste buds out of the park. This chocolate swirls around a creamy milk chocolate ice cream that melts in your mouth.

Shannon’s homemade ice cream flavors are so delectable that they can disappear quickly. I cannot tell you how many times different people have whispered about their Rhubarb Crumble ice cream. I was lucky enough to snag the last scoop of the Cherry Crumble Ice Cream. This flavor is ideal because it is made with cherries that are chosen during the best part of the cherry-picking year. The dark chunky cherry compote was tucked deliciously into a luscious vanilla ice cream with crumbled pieces gracing you with each bite. The cherries have a natural tartness that balances the creaminess of the vanilla ice cream that creates the perfect scoop. 

These flavors together? Chocolate and cherry crumble? Can you think of a better scoop combination? 

I would recommend stopping by Sharon’s Ice cream and trying any of their flavors. They have more than ice cream scoops like root beer floats, espresso, milkshakes, and more.  Shannon’s Ice Cream is located at 318 E. 4th Street in The Dalles.

They are open from Wednesday to Sunday from 2 to 9 pm. 

How about a little shade on the front porch with your waffle cone? Shannon Zilka has an eye for detail and being jack of all trades does not hurt either. She even designing and created the banner sign for the front porch for the business. She operates it with husband Jonathon Zilka, who did much of the carpentry work in the renovation.